Defunct P2P file-sharing network LimeWire settled out of court with major record companies yesterday in a $105m agreement.
The settlement follows a May 2010 ruling by US District Judge Kimba Woods, who found Lime Group and Lime Wire LLC – the parent companies behind LimeWire – had wrongfully assisted users in making pirate …

I wonder if his fine will get knocked down to £1000?

Well

The world is now saved from p2p and the music industry will recover.! Hurrah! Just grabbing my coat, forgot to login my <insert one of many file sharing application alternatives> before I left for work.

What a load of crap

Limewire did not result in the loss of hundreds of jobs. The reason for that statement is that somehow the MAFIAA is too stupid to understand that one downloaded song would not necessarily have resulted in the sale of said song should it not be available for download.

That being said, most artists generate the biggest part of their income from concerts and other stuff, not from selling CD's. Which is not surprising seeing as how the MAFIAA takes most of the profits.

Re: What a load of crap

Of course LimeWire and its ilk result in the loss of hundreds of jobs. For example, why do you think the Zavvi (formerly Virgin) music stores stopped being profitable? Why are the HMV music stores struggling? And no, it isn't all down to Amazon.

Costs of touring

Was talking to a roadie relative the other day (quite a high up one - first name terms with Madonna, Bon Jovi, U2 etc). The latest U2 tour costs >$1mill/day to run. They need to get 90k people in each stadium for it to break even. The stage itself costs $0.5M/day to use, plus 150 employees at £130/day (sorry about mixed currencies).

U2 are not making a profit on their current tour.

Some of his other stories were quite amusing - Best people to work for Bon Jovi - worst, J-Lo. Madonna sounded hard going as well!

He's just got back from the Russian leg of Roger Waters tour - recommended it as one of the best he has seen in 30 years.

Re: Costs of touring

The money for big bands is in the merchandise, which is why a T-shirt at a Wembley or O2 Arena show is so astronomically priced.

As for bands at the opposite end of the scale, we have little chance of breaking even on a tour. CD sales dried up once things like Napster took off, while T-shirt sales and the smallish fee we earn from the promoter wont even cover accommodation, minibus hire and fuel.

I still gig because I enjoy it - the reason I started doing it in the first place, and of course the only reason to be doing it. However, when I started at the tail end of the 1990s, we broke even when touring, thanks solely to CD sales.

Supermarkets

Re: Cazzo Enorme/Zavvi & HMV - I think their problems are more to due with supermarkets selling CDs/DVDs at or below cost price. These lines are not a supermarket's primary business, so they can treat them as a loss leader.

Ironically, when I worked in retail, it was impossible for us to compete with shops like HMV, WHSmiths, etc which sold videos at a retail price that was lower than our wholesale price. Now bigger fish like Tescos have come along.

There's a bit of difference..

Between their original 'estimate' of the damages that Limewire owed and what the music labels finally accepted. Almost makes you cynical about the value placed on such copyright infringment.

So now I guess we can look forward to struggling artists being paid their proper cut out of the $105m. Although the size of the proper cut might vary depending on who you talk to. After all, something has to fund the media industry paying all the lobbyists and politicians.

Time to face the music

Another valid question

Another question one can ask is how greedy record companies could charge $17 for 2 or 3 good songs on a CD in 1991 and perhaps $10 for a cassette? As for the serious crime of breaking copyright law I suppose the Hague needs to put genocide on the back burner and go after the real threat to west civ. We also can't allow Mickey Mouse to go into the public domain so soon copyright will be lifetime plus 10,000 years. I am so glad Obama is using homeland security to go after the evil copyright violators. They are a threat to any society that believes %1 of the people should own %99 of everything.

No money for the artists.

I wonder how future cases will go when the defence points out to the jury that the so called aggrieved artists wont see a penny of any settlement and the whole case has been brought about by some self serving, power mad control freaks who are using the good names of said artist to make themselves richer and more powerful.

I guess...

Er, how much?

Serously, Limewire made enough to be able afford to pay out $105M?! If the music industry isn't making any money, have they not thought of looking at who is. If you can't adapt your business, you haven't got one.